Stoop to New Lows
by Psychoblue
Summary: Heihachi has attacked Shadaloo's base, hoping to face Bison in combat.  Instead, his opponent is someone that he believed to be long dead.  Heihachi/Bison OneShot, also HeihachixKazume if you can call it that.


Before the coming of the modern age, Thailand was part of a great kingdom that thrived with marvelous architecture and art even when the Western world was suffering a dark age of stagnation and plagues. Towering structures and statues populated the regions as the assorted kings and lords fought amongst one another with elephants and swords, and soon Thailand gained a reputation as a kingdom of warriors. With styles like Muay Thai and Muay Boran at its disposal, the kingdom's reputation for fighting began reaching other parts of the globe, and even as the kingdom crumbled the reputation for fighting remained.

In modern times, Thailand became a hub for crime and corruption, despite the best efforts of the government. The once-sacred sport of kings now had a dark taint to it, with the local mobs fixing the fights and fighters who refused to bend to their will were mercilessly dispatched. Worst of all of these gangs was the dreaded Shadaloo, a global organization devoted to the absolute worst aspects of humanity. Through their drugs and weapons, they spread fear, distrust, greed, avarice, and evil amongst the world's populace, feeding off of the world's terror like a leech on blood. Though several brave men and women tried many times to topple Shadaloo, it would continue to rise from the ashes like a phoenix, more brutal and more devastating than the last incarnation.

Shadaloo's base was fittingly located amongst the ruins of the great kingdom that Thailand once boasted, hidden amongst the decaying architecture that still held majesty and grace through the ravages of time. Its location was known only to a scant few, but those who knew it either pledged allegiance to the organization or were too frightened to enter. Today, however, there was a brave warrior that not only entered the headquarters, but did so without being formally invited. Naturally, the guards came to dispatch the intruder, but like the soldiers of old, they were felled not by guns or explosives…but by fist and limb.

Shadaloo Headquarters was being invaded by a lone warrior, and anyone who attempted to stop him was quickly knocked unconscious, if they were fortunate. The intruder didn't really mind if he used too much force or not: if they were foolish enough to think he could be overcome by mere weapons, then they were probably a waste of air in the first place. To face Heihachi Mishima in battle, after all, was to face certain defeat. The least they could do was face it honorably, without using weapons or other such handicaps.

Any like any true despot, Shadaloo's terrifying leader watched the battle unfold with only a grin, enjoying the carnage he was witnessing through the safety of his war room where his massive holographic monitor gave him the means to observe his enemy. He took great pride in the power and fear Shadaloo commanded, so there was no need for him to personally get his hands dirty if the intruder could be handled by his pawns. To face Bison, after all, was to face certain death. The least he could do is give the intruder a fighting chance before personally getting involved.

"Is that our seventh or eighth wave this interloper has dealt with?" The red-clad lord of evil said as he reached for his Shadaloo cap and placed it on his head.

"Our eighth, sir," the well-built subordinate said solemnly as he was motioned with a gesture from his commander to stand next to him. Stepping forward as he was requested, the subordinate turned his head to see his muscular leader stand from his chair and put on the long black cape that saw him through so many brutal battles. Even though Bison was letting his underlings throw themselves in harm's way in his stead, the subordinate knew full well how terrifying Bison was in one-on-one combat. There were many in the organization who believed that, if left to his own devices, Bison was possibly the strongest martial artist on the planet, matched only by a scant few that rose up to foil his plans.

"He's magnificent," Bison said his grin widening to a chilling Cheshire smile. As he did so, dark purple energy began to radiate from his body, giving the Shadaloo leader a sinister aura of malice and evil. Not only was Bison in peak physical condition with a deadly fighting style of his own design, he wielded an ancient energy known as Psycho Power. While he was already known as a maniacal individual, those who witnessed him use this power, however faintly, knew that he was far more than a mere would-be dictator. To those who knew of his Psycho Power, Bison was nothing short of a demon disguised as a man…and the way Bison smiled at how this elderly man with dark gray hair jutting out like wings on his bald head, wearing a tiger-striped fur coat with dark purple pants and slacks, the subordinate knew that Bison had found his next meal to satiate his never-ending thirst for carnage.

"...our men are awaiting your orders, sir," the subordinate said after he gulped at his leader's malicious intent. Though he currently pledged allegiance to this empire of evil, the subordinate only joined the organization because they promised to save his wife's life after birthing complications threatened her well-being. He didn't know at the time that the reason they wanted his wife as so she could become the first of what Bison hoped to be the next generation of his "Doll" corps: young women that Bison kidnapped and brainwashed before letting his scientists inject them with all kinds of steroids and chemicals. Had he known that, he would have just dealt with his grief and rest knowing that his wife was in the care of God.

Instead, both of them were now in the care of demons. For that, Moshe would swallow his pride and let this monster do as he pleased. The most he could hope for was that someone would rise up and strike him down someday, and free him from his tyranny.

"…I know you can hear me, Bison," the visage of Heihachi said with a faint tinge in his voice from the feedback of the camera that was monitoring him. Looking around until he saw the camera that was watching him, the old man glared and his thick mustache furled as he stared directly into the eye watching him so that his full face was in view of Bison's monitor. "I have come to this base requesting an audience with you, yet you lash out at me with your pawns like I am little more than a trifle. For that travesty, your men have paid the price."

Motioning at the dozens of bodies strewn about him, Heihachi continued. "I have accepted your sacrificial pawns, and now I am ready to fight you, their king. Your accursed Shadaloo has been spreading its vile influence to Mishima Polytechnic High School, allowing my students to fall victim to your drugs and weapons. For that, you have two options available to you now." With his sneer increasing, bolts of bright blue lightning crackled across Heihachi's body as he clenched his fists. "You can either bow your head before me in apology and servitude, or I will force you to bow after I break both of your legs and render you unable to stand. The choice is yours, coward!"

"…look carefully at him, Moshe," Bison told his subordinate who remained standing at attention regardless of how much contempt he held for him. "Though he puts up a front of evil, Heihachi Mishima is a very troubled man. You see, the death of his wife over forty years ago drove the poor thing mad. He's imprisoned his father, thrown his son into a volcano, shot his grandson in the head, and performed all sorts of terrible deeds stemming from that moment."

"How would you know that, sir?" Moshe asked as Bison turned around to face him with that chilling smile of his.

"Such is the abilities of one who wields Psycho Power, Moshe," Bison replied as he put his glowing hand on Moshe's shoulder, though Moshe didn't really feel comforted by the gesture. "In only a few seconds, I could analyze his life story through his eyes and his voice. Perhaps one day, if you get into my good graces, I could take you in as a student of this marvelous art." Leaning in so that he was next to Moshe's ear, Bison's voice turned into a cruel whisper. "After all…it worked marvelously on your dear wife…or should we now call her 'Agent Beit' now?"

Pushing Moshe away before his subordinate could respond, Bison walked past him and headed for the door. "Tell the ninth wave to stand down, Moshe. I will be joining the battle personally. If it's an audience this man wants, then it is an audience this man will get…right after I prepare the 'hostess' I have planned to greet him." Continuing to smile, the despotic leader of Shadaloo allowed himself a chuckle. "Heh heh…it will be such a touching encounter, Moshe. I will allow you to stay in my quarters and watch the battle in my stead. I'm sure a loving husband like you will appreciate our guest's plight! Heheheh…HAHAHAHAHA!"

As the chuckle erupted into a spine-tingling laughter, Bison suddenly vanished like an apparition, confirming Moshe's beliefs further that his leader was a demon. Turning around to see Heihachi tapping his foot impatiently waiting for his next victim, Moshe found himself pitying Heihachi's fate even though he was aware of the evil that the Mishima patriarch was capable of. The untimely death of a loved one could drive any man to do bad things: Moshe's current employment in Shadaloo only confirmed that. A part of him hoped that Bison would lose to Heihachi, but that would only give rise to an even worse predicament: Heihachi's madness alongside Shadaloo's empire would spell doom for the planet.

So as Moshe reluctantly sat down in the chair of his despotic commander, he placed his hand on his strong chin and waited for Bison's plan to unfold, reminding himself not to hope that the two monsters kill each other as Bison's Psycho Power made him omnipresent in the minds of those he called his subordinates.

* * *

><p>Ninety-nine.<p>

That was the number of victims Heihachi had either slain or knocked unconscious in the scant fifteen minutes since he entered Shadaloo's secret base. Finding the place was simple enough, thanks to Bison's overwhelming ki signature and his spies telling him the general area of where the base was located. Heihachi wrongly assumed that his name and reputation would allow him to be greeted by Bison without any sort of resistance: anyone else would have been honored to have the great Heihachi Mishima march on their doorstep.

Bison was most certainly not anyone else. Though the name "Shadaloo" was still a new term for Heihachi due to the mysterious merging on his world and theirs, the King of Iron Fists was quickly made aware of Shadaloo's evil through the terrible rumors that began circulating around Mishima Polytechnic High School: the only asset Heihachi was able to retain when Jin usurped the Mishima Zaibatsu. Several of the students were beginning to fall under the terrible curse of substance abuse, and being the students of that school were indirectly a reflection of Heihachi's reputation, it was a rumor that Heihachi needed to silence.

Using his vast network, Heihachi found the contingent that was poisoning his students like the snake in the Garden of Eden, and mercilessly crushed them like the vermin they were. After that, it was a simple matter of doing the necessary research of where the gang received their supplies so that another gang did not rise up its place. A week later, Heihachi was now standing in the formidable Shadaloo Headquarters in Thailand. Heihachi had thrown the gauntlet at Bison's face, and now he would see for himself if he really was the demon that people said he was.

Ninety-nine men had attacked Heihachi since he entered the base, and now they were ninety-nine bodies lying on the floor dead or dying. If Bison showed his face as his next opponent, he would make the one-hundredth man that he subjugated this afternoon. A nice round number to end the conquest, the old man surmised as he waited for the next opponent to stand before him. The metal corridors of the base were already stained with blood, so what was a little more blood for the sake of the greater good?

"Heihachi…"

The softest of whispers passed through Heihachi's ears, like a gentle wind brushing past him. Raising an eyebrow at the sound of the voice, Heihachi turned around with his arms still folded. "There's no need for any of that," he said to the unknown voice, not entirely sure if he really heard the voice or if it was just his imagination. "Come out and face me like a warrior. That's what we're all here for, isn' it: to prove our strength to the world by associating ourselves with an organization like Shadaloo?"

"…I've missed you."

The whisper caressed Heihachi's ear once again, this time loud enough for Heihachi to identify the voice. With his eyes widening in surprise, the old man turned around once again to follow the voice, even though his mind told him that there was no way the voice could have been genuine. It was a voice that Heihachi rightfully believed he would never hear again, for it had been absent from his life for almost fifty years. Why would that voice haunt him here, of all places? "Who's there?" Heihachi blurted out as his ki crackled around his body. "Show yourself, coward!"

A moment later, something else hauntingly familiar entered Heihachi's nostrils: a very unique perfume that Heihachi immediately identified as the last time he sniffed it, it was his wedding day when he was still a young man. Turning around once again, Heihachi gazed upon his visitor with his eyes widening in shock. Standing before him was a stunningly beautiful Japanese young woman, her black hair tied back in a bun and her lip gloss shining like the finest jewel. Covering her body was a lavender kimono with white petals prints around it, even though Heihachi knew that the only kimono of its kind was still back at the Mishima Estate.

"...it's been a long time, my love," the woman said with a warm smile as she stepped forward and put her hand on Heihachi's withered cheek. "Too long, it seems: you've grown old."

Though her touch was warm and comforting, Heihachi quickly pulled back and lifted his fists. "This is no doubt skulduggery of the foulest manner," the King of Iron Fists growled as he slowly backed away from the woman who made his heart soar even as his mind told his body to prepare to attack. "Do you truly believe that taking the form of my deceased wife will make me bow to the wills of Shadaloo? End this charade immediately, Bison, before I really get mad."

But the woman only continued to smile even as Heihachi remained hesitant to let her get close. "You're still as paranoid as ever, Heihachi," the woman said quietly as she pulled back one of her sleeves to reveal a small cut. "I still remember vividly when I came home with this scar and you were having a minor conniption. When I told you a bike messenger bumped into me, you feared that it was some kind of assassin that had poisoned me. You used all of your resources to find the bike messenger that passed me by and brought him before me demanding he tell the truth." Pulling down her sleeve, the woman's smile faded a bit as she noticed Heihachi tense up even further. "Even now, you are distrustful of me. That makes me sad, my love…"

"…how could you know that story?" Heihachi whispered in astonishment. "I never told anyone that story because I was afraid of the embarrassment the Mishima name would endure if it became public. That means that…" Lowering his fighting stance, Heihachi instead walked forward and placed his rough hand on the woman's cheek, feeling the very real warmth of her face that he believed to be forever lost to him. "This is not possible. I watched you die of that terrible illness, Kazume. I even placed you in the casket personally and buried you with my own two hands! How is that you are still alive?"

"The lord works in mysterious ways, Heihachi," the woman Kazume said with a smile before reaching up to Heihachi's hand and rubbing against it with her face. "It is through His will that I have returned to you at long last, and it is through His will that we shall be reunited."

Heihachi silently savored the warmth of Kazume's body for another few seconds before pulling his hand away and turning around. "…now is not that time for pleasant reunions, Kazume," Heihachi said sternly before walking away. "I have sinned far too much to enjoy your touch, and there are still many more sins I must commit before the day is done. As we are now, you will only-"

"Only what, beloved?" Kazume interrupted with a very unwelcome cold in her voice: something that Heihachi had never felt before from his wife that he had believed to be long dead. Turning his head around slightly to see that Kazume's smile and turned into a snarl, the King of Iron Fists raised an eyebrow as he detected a very chilling, fearful aura of malice and villainy emit from her body. "Will I only get in your way? That's what you told me when I first met you, you know. I was only a distraction that would get in your way to bringing peace to the world."

Again, Kazume spoke of things that only she and Heihachi would know, making the King of Iron Fists doubt himself once again. There was no way Kazume could be standing before him like she was now, even as the kimono she received as a gift from him burned off of her body in purple flame. Heihachi regularly visited Kazume's grave to make sure that it was never disturbed by Heihachi's many enemies. But there she was: a specter that had come to haunt Heihachi as her kimono burned off completely to reveal what she was hiding underneath.

The body-hugging black Shadaloo uniform with a dark red tie and battle gauntlets was made visible to Heihachi's gaze as Kazume focused her malevolent aura into her right hand into it burned with purple death. "As I said, Heihachi, the lord works in mysterious ways, but I'm not referring to some imaginary deity," Kazume hissed as the bun holding her hair in place distingerated to let her long raven hair fall down her body. "The lord that I speak of is Lord Bison, who has returned me to you using this marvelous power in my hand…Psycho Power!"

"So this is Bison's handiwork," Heihachi growled as he assumed his fighting stance and once again summoned his lightning-like ki. "It's bad enough that he poisons my school and spreads his evil in my domain, but now he tampers with the ghosts of my past! Does his depravity know no bounds!"

Lifting her burning hand further into the air, a ball of crackling purple ki materialized and inflated in her hand until it was as big as a basketball. "Do you really have any room to talk about depravity, beloved?" Kazume spat back as the crackling ball stabilized into an orb of focused lethal energy. "Since my demise, you have committed unspeakable atrocities against your own flesh and blood! When our son Kazuya was merely five years old, you threw him into a ravine and expected him to climb back up! What kind of father does that!"

With a mighty swing, Kazume hurled the ball of evil energy at Heihachi, but the King of Iron Fists was ready for the attack. Tucking both of his hands next to his hip, Heihachi let out a ferocious shout and thrust both of his crackling palms in front of him, striking the ball of energy as if it were a material opponent. Unable to withstand Heihachi's power, the ball exploded in a flash of sparks and fire, revealing the completely unharmed Heihachi as he lowered his hands and charged forward. No matter who it was in front of him, anyone who attacked Heihachi forfeited his protection.

Once he was in striking distance, Heihachi crouched down slightly before rising back up with a leaping uppercut to Kazume's chin: his fabled Thunder Godfist that had won him so many battles. As the hit connected with Kazume's face and sent her flying through the air, Heihachi's ki continued to crackle around his body as he spoke. "Grief drives men to do terrible but necessary things, Kazume," Heihachi retorted as he looked up to see Kazume suddenly vanish in mid-air like the apparation she had to have been. "I was toughening our son so that if something as terrible as losing a loved one happened to him, he would have the strength to carry on!"

A moment passed before Heihachi felt the malicious ki reappear directly behind him, forcing him to turn around and face his attacker. No sooner had he planted his foot down, Kazume's leg snapped into motion and struck Heihachi square in the side of the neck, causing the old man to shout in pain as the leg planted itself on his body. "What a caring father you've become in my absence," Kazume said with a sneer as she focused her dark purple energy into her leg and let the unique agonizing sensation of Psycho Power seep through his body. "Even your own grandson thinks you should burn in Hell."

"Y…you're the one who created me," Heihachi growled as he lifted his foot and forcefully pushed Kazume off of him with a pushing kick. Watching Kazume fall to the ground, Heihachi kept his leg lifted and brought it down on his formerly deceased wife, who lifted her own legs to catch Heihachi's foot. "Had you not died, I would not have performed those terrible deeds. Our son Kazuya would not be the demon he is today, and our grandson Jin would not be seeking the demise of our name!"

Teleporting out of harm's way once again, Kazume reappeared several feet away from Heihachi as his foot crashed into the ground in a devastating Geta Stomp. Jumping high into the air, Kazume plummeted forward Heihachi feet-first until she stomped on Heihachi's head with monumental force. Even the mighty Heihachi couldn't help but fall into a kneeling position as Kazume bounced off of him only to fall back down towards him with both of her burning hands clasped in a hammer.

Sadly for Kazume, Heihachi recovered faster than she initially anticipated, delivering a devastating standing uppercut that struck her under the bridge of her nose and propelled her further into the air like a volleyball being put into play. With his opponent helpless in the air, Heihachi let loose a maddened shout as he spun around for a spinning backfist, striking her in the air before spinning around again for another Thunder Godfist that launched her away and sent her crashing into the ground.

"Good…that's good," Kazume said quietly as she rose back up and wiped some spit from her mouth. "I was hoping that you would lash out at me like that. A part of me worried that if I came to you like this, you would be too confused…too WEAK to attack. I am pleased to see that you're not holding back."

"You presume too much, Kazume," Heihachi retorted as he planted his feet and once again entered his fighting stance as Kazume fired another ball of energy at him. Swatting the ball away as easily as he would swat away a child's plaything, the King of Iron Fists watched Kazume rapidly approach him. "If I were using my full power, you would be dead to me once again! It is far too soon…far too inhumane to do such an act at this time!"

Suddenly flipping forward, much to Heihachi's surprise, Kazume brought the sole of her boot down on top of Heihachi's head before her other leg fell down on his head and sent him stumbling backwards. Jumping into the air once again as Heihachi struggled to regain his bearings, Kazume flipped into the air in a majestic arc before bringing her her burning hand on Heihachi's head and force him to the ground completely. "If you don't use your full power, my dear…then you will be dead," Kazume said coldly as she landed on her feet and leaned down to pull Heihachi's head off the ground. "You have shown the rest of your family no mercy, so expect none from your wife."

"…SEI!"

With a single shout, Heihachi thrust his head forward and delivered a powerful headbutt right to Kazume's beautiful nose, forcing her to stumble backwards as Heihachi returned to a standing position only to thrust out his right palm and deliver a powerful thrust to her chest, sending her flying backwards once again. Kazume vanished before she hit the ground, but this time Heihachi knew what was coming next. Spinning around with his fist clenched, Heihachi expected to feel flesh and bone meet…but instead only felt air. He had been tricked once again!

Feeling a pair of hands wrap around him from behind, Heihachi was lifted into the air with strength that belied Kazume's beautiful visage, and then tossed upward until Kazume's leg was thrust straight into the air like a spike and struck Heihachi in his stomach. Watching a wad of bloody saliva spill from Heihachi's mouth as the leg dug deeper into him as he was suspended helplessly in mid-air, Kazume spun around and flung the old man into a steel wall with a swivel of her leg. The end result was Heihachi crashing against the wall and leaving a massive dent while he fell to the ground and groaned in pain.

"Do you remember the promise you made to me when you married me, Heihachi," Kazume said as she folded his arms and watch Heihachi stumble back to his feet and enter his fighting stance once again. Seeing him charge forward with the same battle fury he would use against opponents in his King of Iron Fist tournaments, Kazume allowed herself a cruel grin before teleporting away from Heihachi's kick and reappearing directly above him. Hovering in the air where Heihachi couldn't reach her, Kazume continued. "You told me that someday, somehow, you would create a world where only peace and harmony would reign."

Rolling out of harm's way as Kazume plummeted back down to earth with a head stomp, Heihachi resumed his fighting stance and waited for Kazume to disappear again before feeling the malicious intent reappear behind him. Spinning around with his leg outstretched, Heihachi delivered a turning roundhouse to Kazume and sent her sprawling backwards. "I remember that promise very well, Kazume," Heihachi retorted as Kazume rose back up and flung a trio of crackling ki orbs at him. "I have done everything in my power to keep that promise, even today!"

With the three orbs coming at him at the same velocity, Heihachi crouched down before jumping forward with surprising agility for a man of his age and vaulted over the attack while they passed under him harmlessly. Landing on the ground in a hunch, Heihachi slowly lifted his head and glared at his wife, or at least someone pretending to be his wife with shockingly good research and information. "Every life I've taken, every evil deed I have done, every foe I've conquered has been for your sake, Kazume! Everything is for that promise we made on our wedding day, and the promise we made on your death bed!"

Charging forward once again, Heihachi watched Kazume lift her burning hand into the air before bringing it down in a fiery swipe as he came within striking distance. To Kazume's surprise, Heihachi caught the arm as if it were moving in slow-motion, and then used his free hand to wrap around her neck. Lifting her into the air in a stranglehold while his ki crackled around his body, Heihachi watched her struggle defiantly. "Using these hands that caressed your body as you breathed your last, Kazume, I have vowed to create the world you dreamed of in life. I will create a world of everlasting peace!"

Turning his head to the dent in the steel wall his body had left, Heihachi flung Kazume into the wall with the same fervor as he would a rag doll. To his surprise, however, Kazume spun around even as she speeding towards the wall so that her feet planted against it. Once her body fully compressed against the wall, Kazume's being was engulfed in dark purple energy before she launched herself off the wall and lunged towards Heihachi like a missile. With her body spiraling as her burning hands ripped through Heihachi's cloth, Kazume let loose a terrible, maddening laughter as Heihachi was sent spiraling to the ground while she hovered to a stop and gracefully landed of her feet.

"Hahahaha! What a marvelous way you have of showing you devotion to me, beloved," Kazume said with a cruel grin, slowly turning her head around so that Heihachi got a good glimpse of the purple gleam of death and evil in her eyes. "The force in which you threw me into the wall would have slain anyone else. What would have happened if I did not counter and my skull shattered against the steel? Would you be willing to have the death of your own wife on your conscience?"

With her body still burning with energy, Kazume turned around full to watch Heihachi's blue lightning-like ki surround his body as if he were a human dynamo. "When you died, Kazume, I made a promise to myself: one that no one but myself knows about," Heihachi said with a low growl as the high energy output of his body started to become reflected in his eyes. With a blue glint of violent intent coming from his glowing eyes, Heihachi prepared for Kazume's next attack as he told his wife of his secret vow. "There is no low I won't stoop to, no atrocity I won't commit, and no life I won't snuff out if it means creating that world of peace and tranquility…EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING YOU AGAIN, KAZUME!"

"Then prove it to me, my love, by sending me back to heaven…if you have the courage," Kazume shouted back before lunging forward in a spiraling torpedo, her arms in front of her as her flames reached fever pitch and spewed from her spinning body like noxious flumes. "PSYCHO CRUSHER!"

Undeterred by this deadly attack that had already left a bleeding scar across Heihachi's body when it tore a section of his jacket from him, the King of Iron Fists let out a mighty roar as he lunged towards his spiraling spectre of a wife with his elbow in front of him. An instant later, the two irresistible forces crashed into one another, creating a massive shockwave of wind and force that sent the ninety-nine bodies strewn about them flying away to create a widening space for the two warriors. Very shortly, one of them would become the one-hundred fallen warrior.

Like a drill bit, Kazume spiraled faster and more violently against Heihachi's elbow, laughing with mad glee as the King of Iron Fists struggled against her attack. "You are but a PAWN, Heihachi," she shouted through her laughter as she felt Heihachi's resisitance back off. "You are a pawn that thinks himself a king…and now it's CHECKMATE!"

"…yes, indeed."

Heihachi allowed himself a grin before lifting his other hand and suddenly crouching down with his elbow still beating against Kazume's Psycho Crusher. Rising back up to plunge his free hand into Kazume's stomach with a powerful uppercut, the King of Iron Fists pulled back his elbow and unfurled it before bringing it into his captured foe's chest and sending her rocketing high into the air with his Twin Pistons. This time, Kazume had been the one who was ensnared: Heihachi only allowed her to hit with her Psycho Crusher so that she could be held in place long enough for Heihachi launch her high into the air, let her plummet back down to Earth…and then deliver an impaling Demon Uppercut to her stomach as she fell down.

"SHORYA!"

Kicking Kazume away after letting her hang for a second, Heihachi watched her crash against the steel wall and leave her own dent in Shadaloo's base. This time, Kazume did not teleport away or get back up, instead sliding against the wall and slumping against it while she took heavy, labored breaths. "…my heart died along with you, Kazume," Heihachi said as he clutched his bleeding midsection and limped over to where Kazume was lying in a heap. "That's why I will continue to fight, to sin, to hate my family…so that I can create that perfect world."

"…then there is no longer any need for this charade."

Even though the battle was over, the surprises only continued as Kazume suddenly spoke in a voice much deeper and more sinister than normal. Slowly getting back up, the woman that was supposed to have been Heihachi's wife fizzled and crackled like a staticy transmission…only she disappeared completely to reveal someone completely different. Standing in front of Heihachi was not his wife Kazume, but the lightly-armored, red-clad Bison, with only a few minor cuts and bruises on his thickly-muscled body and face and a sinsister grin on his face. "…you have passed my test, Heihachi Mishima," Bison said as Heihachi quickly resumed his fighting stance. "You have now earned an audience with me."

"…so she was an illusion all along," Heihachi growled before marching forward and grabbing Bison by his collar. "Vile fiend! How dare you toy with my past in such a manner? I should have you skinned alive!"

"It was not an illusion, old man," Bison said with his grin widening even as Heihachi stared at him with rage fit for a demon. "By reading your mind and looking into your past, I was able to use my Psycho Power to act as spirit medium for your wife Kazume. She might have been using my body as a vessel, but she stood in front of you as clearly as you stand before me right now."

"Psycho Power," Heihachi repeated the term as he reluctantly let go of Bison and let him take a couple of steps back. "I have not heard of any such martial art, and I've made a career out of studying the varies fighting styles that the world has to offer. From what I can tell from this…test you've given me, it is a technique that forces the opponent to experience his deepest emotions and turns it against them so that the user may overwhelm the opponent."

"That is but a very, very small part of the power I possess," Bison replied. "Teleportation, flight, enhanced strength and endurance, the ability to read and control minds, summon spirits, and a control over one's ki that no ordinary human could hope to achieve. That is only the summarized version of Psycho Power, and for you to have overcome all of those traits using only training…you have proven yourself worthy of standing in front of me as you do now."

"Then you know why I am here," Heihachi retorted before pointing an accusing finger at Bison. "Your Shadaloo has encroached on what little territory I still possess. You can either leave it forever, or you can bow before me and let me add Shadaloo to my rebuilding empire."

"Hmhmhmhm…how about we reach a middle ground, old man," Bison replied with a chuckle before outstretching his glowing hand. "You see, I've already offered my services to the current head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, your grandson Jin. Sadly for him, he balked at my offer and told me none to discreetly that the next time we meet, it will end in my death." With his grin widening to almost inhuman levels, the Shadaloo leader continued. "Since he will not accept my hospitality, I was hoping that you would be more cooperative."

"…how cooperative?" Heihachi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your world is still new to me, and my world is new to you. I believe that by cooperating, we can help each other reach our goals," Bison continued as his outstretched hand continued to glow. "With my help, you will be able to overthrow Jin and reclaim the Zaibatsu you covet so…and with your help, I can put an end to Shadaloo's enemies and take my place on the world stage. Is this acceptable?"

Heihachi looked at the hand carefully, playing back what had transpired. In the past hour, this man had sent ninety-nine sacrificial lambs to the slaughter, and then added further insult to injury by posing as his wife to deceive him. Only a fool would shake that hand after all of that…but the King of Iron Fists had been called a fool many times in the past, and those who called him such were slain without a second thought. This Psycho Power was far too unpredictable, too unknown to Heihachi to ignore…which is why he told himself that from now on, he would need to be extra careful.

"…tell me more," Heihachi said as his crackling hand wrapped around Bison's hand and the two would-be despots gripped each other tightly. There was no low that either of them would stoop to in order to get what they want…even if it meant making a deal with those that would mean to do them harm. After all, in order to make peace, there must first be war…


End file.
